GREENVILLE — Before the season began, shortly after taking over as the Riverheads volleyball coach, Ruth Thompson had her players set some goals.

With seven rising seniors and a team coming off a regional tournament appearance — making it five straight trips to the regions for Riverheads volleyball plus a state tournament appearance in 2011 — the goals, one would think, would be set pretty high.

Two years ago the Stuarts Draft volleyball team had 10 seniors. From day one of practice — really, from the day after the previous season ended — the goal was simple: win the state tournament.

It almost happened, with Draft losing the state title match in five games. Throughout the trip to Richmond, though, none of the Cougars were shocked at how well they were playing.

But when Riverheads' Mariah Clark was asked if this year's seniors had put this season on their radar as one that could be pretty special, she didn't take long to answer.

"Um, no," said Clark, an answer that resulted in lots of laughter from her teammates.

It was that attitude that surprised the new coach, who was shocked when the players said their goal was to win more games than they lost.

A team with seven seniors, postseason experience and, from what the coach had seen in practice, plenty of talent, and that was all they wanted? Not a state championship. Not even a regional championship. Simply be a little better than mediocre. Really?

Thompson went home and told her husband that either she was missing something or the players just didn't realize their potential. What Thompson saw and what the players expected of themselves were two different things.

"I thought they were going to be great," Thompson said.

The players, not so much.

"I think they spent the entire first nine or 10 games being surprised (that they were winning)," Thompson said.

But as the wins added up — most in straight sets — not even the players could deny that, yeah, maybe aiming for a few more wins than losses was underestimating their ability just a little.

By the time the win streak reached nine, it was obvious to most that this team was good. Their next match was against another 9-0 team — Stuarts Draft.

All the hype surrounding that match went away pretty quickly as Riverheads swept the Cougars in impressive fashion. After that victory, the prospect of an unbeaten season seemed more likely.

The players found that these new expectations of greatness were accompanied by the burden to always be on their game.

"There's a lot of pressure," said Clark, who leads the team in kills and blocks and is near the top in digs. "Every team that comes out there is like, 'We want to beat you.' We have to just come out and win. It's hard."

Of the 16 straight wins, 12 have been sweeps. No opponent has yet pushed Riverheads to a five-game match and the Gladiators have dropped just four games all season.

That kind of dominance also creates another type of burden, one that forces the coach and players to wonder what happens when another team does challenge them. It's very conceivable that Riverheads will get into the Group 2A East tournament without having gone to a five-game match, but the further they go, the better chance Riverheads has of facing a team that can play with it.

"I'm worried because we haven't seen it yet," Thompson said. "That's one of the things I say all the time. You will get into five games, a team will take you into five games, you will face a player who you don't think you can get their balls up. How are we going to handle that? What are we going to say to ourselves?"

The players don't worry about it though because their coach has pushed them harder in practice than opposing teams have in matches. They believe that's prepared them for whatever is to come.

"She brings intensity to practice," Brooke Taylor said. "Before (this year) we kind of just went through the motions. But she's like, 'Girls let's go. If you want that undefeated record, you've got to work for it. Teams are after you.'"

The coach likes how quickly her players adapted to those intense practices. She said previous head coach Mark Husband did a great job of making sure the players were disciplined, but something was lacking.

"I don't think he maybe took the same kill-go-get-them mentality," Thompson said. "They like that and I don't think they had that before. I think that's what they bought into. They want to hit all the time."

And if the players are lackadaisical from time to time in practice, Thompson has four words for them — "lose that poo attitude."

"She says, 'If you have a poo attitude, smile,' " said Nyssa Stapleton, who seems to be the most energetic, and talkative, member of the team. If no one else is providing energy on the court, Stapleton can be counted on to do so.

Overall, though, the players agree that poo attitudes aren't as abundant this season as in the past.

"We play really well together," Mekayla Heizer said. "That's a big part of it ... we all get along really well. We never argue."

Courtney Oliver agreed that that bond, even more than the talent, is the strength of this team.

"It's how close we are," Oliver said.

​"You can't play as good as you want to if there's little cliques or divisions," said Stapleton, who grew up in the Riverheads community before transferring to Waynesboro and then back again before her senior year. With the Gladiators she feels like she's home again. She feels like she's with family.

Stapleton has given the Gladiators another big hitter, teaming with Clark this season. The two have combined for more than 330 kills, with Clark over 200 by herself. Jennifer Callison also makes her presence known at the net, both with kills and blocks.

Taylor and Oliver can dig up anything hit at them with over 300 digs between the two. The other two seniors, Heizer and Katelin Campbell, provide depth.

Even though there are underclassmen making vital contributions — Kelly Coffey, for instance, is only a junior, but, as the setter, is the key to making everything work smoothly — the coach knows it starts with the seniors.

"Having so many seniors, they're so mentally on top," Thompson said. "Other teams I've coached, you'd get into a (tight) situation … and they might be afraid to make a mistake. This team keeps going, they keep pulling each other up. There's just a strength there that I know has to come from experience."

That group could have just as easily derailed the season if they hadn't bought into Thompson's coaching strategy.

They did buy in, however. And now, 16 matches into the season, they have yet to feel what it's like to lose. It's been such a successful run so far, most of the girls can't believe that Tuesday against Draft will be their final regular-season home match.

But unlike early in the season when they weren't expecting anything special from this season, now the players believe that when the regular season ends there will be much more volleyball to play.

"It doesn't feel like it's the end of the season," Taylor said. "I feel like we have a long way to go."

Write to Patrick Hite at phite@newsleader.com and follow him on Twitter at @Patrick_Hite.